XXXVI.

_AGAINST HYPOCRITES._

_Gli affetti di Pluton._

Deep in their hearts they hide the lusts of Hell:

Christ's name is written on their brow, that those

Who only view the husk, may not suppose

What guile and malice harbour in the shell.

O God! O Wisdom! Holy Fervour! Well

Of strength invincible to strike Thy foes!

Give me the force--my spirit burns and glows--

To strip those idols and to break their spell!

The zeal I bear unto Thy name benign,

The love I feel for truth sincere and pure,

When such men triumph, make me rend my hair.

How long shall folk this infamy endure--

That _he_ should be held sacred, _he_ divine,

Who strips e'en corpses in the graveyard bare?

The Sonnets of Michael Angelo Buonarroti and Tommaso Campanella; Now for the First Time Translated into Rhymed English · 第 188 / 232 题